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The team talks about how team chemistry will help them this season. | ON PAGE 7
FOOTBALL SEASON PREVIEW
A look ahead at this season JACOB MYERS Assistant Sports Editor myers.1669@osu.edu When the sixth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes take the field on Sept. 3 against Bowling Green, grab a program. Urban Meyer has never had a larger roster turnover in his five seasons as OSU’s coach. After last season, he has to replace 16 starters — eight on offense and eight on defense — which includes a senior class that won 50 games in their time in the Scarlet and Gray. It’s quite the daunting task, even more so when one considers 14 of those departed players were drafted into the NFL.
“This year I just got to have a mindset of a starter ... I feel like I’m more mature this year.” Curtis Samuel Junior H-back
Despite all that, presumptions remain the same. “Coach Meyer don’t change the expectation,” said redshirt junior strong-side linebacker Chris Worley. “Either you reach it or you got to get out.” There are new names and faces in 2016, yet the hype continues to pulsate out of the program. Here’s the OSU football season preview. Offense No Ezekiel Elliott, no Michael Thomas, no Braxton Miller and no Jalin Marshall. All of these playmakers are gone for the NFL. However, left behind on the dock is one of the most important members of the 2014 national championship team — redshirt junior quarterback J.T. Barrett. OSU’s offense under Meyer has been near the top of most offensive statistics in the every year of his four seasons in Columbus. Now entering season number five with the Scarlet and Gray, Meyer says he hopes his signal caller can lead the young group at OSU. Meyer thinks that Barrett could be better in 2016 than his national freshman of the year season in 2014.
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OSU then-redshirt sophomore quarterback J.T. Barrett (16) celebrates after a touchdown during a game against Michigan on Nov. 28, 2015, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “I anticipate he’ll be as good a quarterback as we’ve had,” Meyer said at Big Ten Media Days. “It’s his show, and he knows it, and he’s prepared.” Albeit, the 2016 Buckeyes may not have the experience last year’s team had, junior H-back Curtis Samuel and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Noah Brown seem most ready to become the dominant forces around Barrett. “This year I just got to have a mindset of a starter,” Samuel said. “I feel like I’m more mature this
year.” Barrett has said on multiple occasions that Brown — returning from a season-ending leg injury — is his go-to receiver, and he doesn’t care how Samuel gets the ball, he just has to. As far as the offensive line is concerned, the unit known as “The Slobs” has a newer look, but a resounding mentality with new offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and redshirt senior captain Pat Elflein. Redshirt freshman running back Mike Weber will likely
be named starting running back in the near future, so having a guy like Elflein leading a young group is vital to the offense’s success. “(Elflein) is a great leader that demonstrates what Ohio State’s offensive line stands for,” said redshirt freshman offensive lineman Isaiah Prince. “He’s everything that an offensive guy should want to be.” Defense For what can be said about Barrett on offense, the same applies THIS SEASON CONTINUES ON 7
FOOTBALL
Weber up to the challenge of leading run game NICK MCWILLIAMS Sports Editor mcwilliams.66@osu.edu Ohio State fans were spoiled with the likes of former first team All-Big Ten selection Ezekiel Elliott as the lead running back for the Buckeyes last year. The Dallas Cowboys’ first-round pick of the 2016 NFL Draft carried much
of the load for OSU’s offense the past two years, but now the team will turn to redshirt freshman Mike Weber. Weber, a native of Detroit and Cass Technical High School graduate, missed last season after he tore his meniscus, and the coaching staff decided to keep him out for the year. The redshirt helped Weber heal, while also maturing
Ohio State looking to redshirt freshman Mike Weber to fill the void at running back this season him as a player. A former four-star prospect highly recruited by both OSU and Michigan, Weber only smiles and laughs now when asked about
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OSU redshirt freshman running back Mike Weber (20) carries the ball during the spring game on April 16 at Ohio Stadium.
the Wolverines and the program that nearly snagged the 5-foot10, 212-pound running back from OSU. “I still get a lot of people that say ‘I wish you would have came here,’” Weber said. “But that decision has been made and I’m glad to be here.” Expectations are high for Weber, with comparisons being drawn between the redshirt freshman and former OSU running back Carlos Hyde. These lofty hopes for Weber, along with the pressure to follow up a first-round draft pick, can toy with an athlete’s confidence. With all the voices around him murmuring about the players who came before him, Weber said he is learning to block out the talk and turn his attention on playing as well as he can. “I used to be worried about living up to those stat lines,” Weber said. “Now, I’m just focused on being myself and doing whatever I can to help this team out.” The combination of junior H-back Curtis Samuel and se-
nior wide receiver Dontre Wilson could take carries away from Weber this fall. Samuel has 75 carries in his career for the Buckeyes, and Wilson has said he could be receiving touches in the backfield during the season. Regardless of the lack of experience for the second-year running back, OSU coach Urban Meyer is nearly convinced he has found his man to carry the ball through the trenches next year. “Mike Weber has kind of separated himself,” Meyer said. “If he continues, we can make a phone call later on this week to call home and tell (his family) he’s the starting tailback at Ohio State. Not yet though.” Weber has yet to appear in a game for the Buckeyes, with the exception of the spring game earlier this season. During the intrasquad scrimmage, he carried the ball eight times for 38 yards and two touchdowns. Weber has 10 days before the regular season kicks off for the Buckeyes against Bowling Green to prove to the coaching staff that he can be the workhorse of the offense.
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